Page 110 - ShowSight - February 2020

Form Follows
FUNCTION
PART 15
Foot Timing
BY STEPHANIE HEDGEPATH
Ibelieve I heard the term ‘foot timing’ for the first time was in a lecture given by Carmen Battaglia in the mid-1980s. Foot timing is extremely important when evaluating side gait in the dog. Foot timing is a result of the balance in front and rear movement and the strike of each foot on the ground. Correct foot timing
comes from proper conformation and also from muscle conditioning and coordination. A dog that is in good physical condition will be better coordinated in the actions of the forequarter and hindquarter than one out of condition.
Figure 1. The Rear Foot Stepping in the Footprint Left by the Front Foot.
Foot synchronization at the trot occurs when the hind foot slips under the front foot as it leaves the ground, often placing the hind foot in the print left by the vacating front foot. (See Figure 1) If this action does not happen, the feet would either interfere with each other or the dog will take some sort of compensatory action in order to avoid inter- ference. Such actions include padding, paddling, crabbing, etc. In a square breed, foot timing is very important as they are more likely to interfere simply because there is less ground under the body of a square dog than there is under a rectangular breed. Having said this, we must remember that square is not the average or normal outline. For dogs, the average dog is slightly longer in body than in height at the withers. A rectangle, not a square, is the more common shape, especially for an endurance trotter. >
108 • ShowSight Magazine, February 2020